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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26572744">sitting lonely with somebody lonely too</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/trobedrights'>trobedrights (orphan_account)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Mythic Quest: Raven's Banquet (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Friends to Lovers, M/M, Mutual Pining, but we only see david's pov so only sorta, hrnghhh i love them so much</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 11:08:55</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,373</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26572744</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/trobedrights</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Brad Bakshi is not a nice person. David knows this.</p><p>So that's why it's weird to him that Brad's inviting him out for drinks. Just him, none of their other coworkers.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Brad Bakshi &amp; David Brittlesbee, Brad Bakshi/David Brittlesbee</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>73</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>sitting lonely with somebody lonely too</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>title is from hi-five by angel olsen STREAM BURN YOUR FIRE FOR NO WITNESS!!</p><p>orphaned bc i don't like braddavid anymore so i didn't wanna keep it on my profile, user is trobedrights :)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Brad Bakshi is not a nice person.</p><p>David knows this. David accepts this as one of the laws of the universe. The Earth goes around the sun, Ian Grimm has an enormous ego, chocolate chip cookies are delicious, and Brad is not a nice person.</p><p>So that’s why it’s weird to him that Brad’s inviting him out for drinks. Just him, none of their other coworkers.</p><p>When he asks him why, Brad shrugs and says, “Street Fighter was fun. This can be one of your little coworker-bond-building exercises. Maybe I’ll find a way to make you forever indebted to me.”</p><p>So David still doesn’t understand why, and he <em> really </em> doesn’t understand why he’s saying yes.</p><p> </p><p>They go to a little bar with no name that Brad calls The Red Door. David’s never noticed it because it’s closer to the poorer side of town, so he’s surprised Brad suggested it. But it’s a nice place, small and artsy, and while Brad may seem to be the kind of person to like big, flashy things at first, it actually makes sense. </p><p>Brad orders a special drink made there, so David decides to try it too. They wait.</p><p>It’s awkward. David isn’t sure what to talk about; he’s realizing that although he’s known this man for a few years, he barely really knows him at all. So they make stilted small talk, and they’re clearly both uncomfortable, but at the end of the evening, Brad says, “So. Wanna do this again sometime?”</p><p>His signature smirk is on his face, but deeper behind the eyes is something more pleading. And somehow David can tell that Brad genuinely wants this, so he agrees. “Sure. Why not next week?”<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Next week comes and goes, and weeks after that. And something about the way Brad talks to him makes David realize, after a couple weeks, that <em> oh</em>. Brad is lonely.</p><p>It shouldn’t have been a hard conclusion to come to: the man has no friends, doesn’t really talk to his family as far as David can tell. But he seems so put together and so unneeding of anyone else that it used to be difficult to imagine him yearning for someone’s company.</p><p>But David knows him a little better now, and he thinks he’s starting to get Brad. So why not indulge him? He’s only helping a lonely man have a friend.</p><p>He’s not lonely too. That’s not the reason for this at all.</p><p> </p><p>“Scrooge McDuck? Really?” David laughs.</p><p>Brad shrugs, trying to play it off, but he’s laughing too. “Yeah, man. Other kids have Superman or whatever- why not?”</p><p>David nods. “Why not. I was the superhero kid, honestly. I think I just wanted to grow up to be someone strong and important.”</p><p>“Makes sense. Hey, look at where you are now.” </p><p>“Where I am now? I don’t think I exactly achieved the dream.”</p><p>“Well, you’re no superhero, but strong and important, sure. You’re the executive producer of an extremely successful company.”</p><p>“And I’m a pushover and Ian &amp; Poppy just lead the company themselves.”</p><p>“Yeah, maybe, but honestly it’d all fall apart without you. I don’t think you give yourself enough credit.”</p><p>And okay, David had thought he understood Brad. He had figured out that he really wasn’t an awful person deep down, but this is an entirely new side of him. Open kindness? To <em> David</em>? </p><p>David must have been silent for too long, because Brad nudges him. “Hello?”</p><p>“Oh. Yeah. Yeah, I guess you’re right.”</p><p> </p><p>David finally gets brave enough to ask about The Red Door. Brad fiddles with his fingers for a bit before responding. “It’s just a nice atmosphere.”</p><p>David’s pretty sure that’s a lie, but he’s not going to push. He’s okay with letting pieces of Brad come to him, just a little at a time.</p><p> </p><p>Brad laughs at some dumb joke David made and slides his drink across the bar, vaguely gesturing at a bartender for more.</p><p>“Refills already?” David teases. “You must really love spending time with me.”</p><p>Brad snorts. “Don’t get those sorts of ideas in your head,” but he looks over at David and smiles, and David knows what’s not spoken. </p><p> </p><p>Brad casually mentions an ex-boyfriend one day. He probably didn’t mean to do it, probably didn’t even realize David didn’t already know this information. Not that it matters. David doesn’t care. Why would he care? He strongly supports all people. If Brad is gay, good for him! David will <em> not </em> make the situation weird.</p><p> </p><p>One day at work, Brad is staring blankly at his computer screen. David waves a hand in front of his face. “Brad? You good, buddy?”</p><p>Brad blinks. “The Red Door closed.”</p><p>“Oh, that sucks. We can find a new place, though.”</p><p>Brad looks at David, then back at his computer screen, then back at David. “Yeah. Okay. A new place.”</p><p>So they try new bars, but none of them really feel the same, until one day, David has a genius idea.</p><p>Brad doesn’t like to drive; he usually just Ubers to work, so occasionally David will drive him when they’re in the mood. Brad puts on songs David’s never heard of but is content to listen to and props his feet up on the dashboard, laying his head back in contentment.</p><p>So David offers to drive Brad home today, and Brad says okay. But instead, David takes them both to his house. </p><p>“Uh, David? You forgot to drop me off.”</p><p>“No, I have a surprise for you!” David grins. </p><p>Brad raises his eyebrows. “Okay…”</p><p>They go into David’s house, and it’s like being inside their own world, the world of Brad &amp; David. David’s created a replica of The Red Door in his kitchen &amp; dining room to the best of his ability, and it’s far from perfect, but something about it just makes it better than perfect.</p><p>Brad stares at it. </p><p>“Do you like it?” David asks nervously. “Maybe it’s stupid, I just thought it could be cool. Since you seemed really attached to that bar and all.”</p><p>Brad looks at him with maybe more clear emotion than David’s ever seen in his eyes. “Yeah. Yeah, I like it.”</p><p>David beams. </p><p> </p><p>They sit on stools and drink David’s best approximation of the special drink from The Red Door, talking and cracking jokes. And David knows this was a good idea because the magic is back; this is exactly how their outings used to be.</p><p>There’s a lull in the conversation, and Brad says, “My parents took me to The Red Door when I turned twenty-one. That’s why it’s so important to me. It’s like, I don’t know, it feels like a coming-of-age thing or something. And I miss them.”</p><p>“Oh. Are they...?”</p><p>“Not dead, just not in my life anymore. Don’t worry about it. I just figured I should tell you. If you went to all this trouble for my weird little fixation.”</p><p>“I think I’d go to all this trouble for any of your weird little fixations,” David says quietly, and that makes Brad softly smile.</p><p>They hug before he leaves. It’s short. But it’s everything.</p><p> </p><p>They graduate from drinks once a week to dinner pretty much every other day, because why not? They’re going to David’s house most of the time now anyway, so it’s an easy transition. </p><p>David learns that Brad is way better at cooking than him. He teaches David to make traditional Polish and Indian dishes, and after a few weeks, he’s kinda just taken over David’s kitchen. Sometimes it reminds him of how his wife used to cook for them both while he attempted to help. He pushes those thoughts away; they’re stupid.</p><p> </p><p>One night, when they’re up late watching movies, they both fall asleep on the couch. David wakes up with Brad’s head in his lap and is extremely confused for a moment before he remembers.</p><p>He looks over at the clock on his wall. <em> Shit</em>, it’s 10:30 <em> shitshitshit </em>it’s a Monday and they’re both going to be late to work and everyone is going to ask them why.</p><p>“Brad,” he hisses. “Brad, wake up!”</p><p>Brad blearily opens his eyes and looks up at him blankly for a second, before he apparently realizes what’s happening and jumps up. “Oh fuck. What time is it?”</p><p>“10:30.”</p><p>“<em>10:30</em>? What are we gonna tell the others?”</p><p>“I mean. I guess it’s not like we’ve actually been doing anything. We’re just friends. So we can just tell them we were hanging out and stayed up too late, right?”</p><p>Brad stares at him. “Tell them we were hanging out?”</p><p>“Yeah? Are you really that against them knowing we like each other’s company?” David jokes, but his stomach is turning.</p><p>“<em>Yes</em>! It’s not about you, it’s about...everyone! Why can’t we just tell them we’re hooking up or something?”</p><p>David flushes. “<em>Hooking up</em>? Brad, that’s the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard!”</p><p>Brad shrugs. “It’s more believable.”</p><p>“What- how- that’s not even possible! I’m a straight man!”</p><p>Brad scrutinizes him for a second, then waves his hand as if to say <em> so-so </em>. “Eh.”</p><p>“<em>Eh</em>? What the hell is that supposed to mean?” David’s voice is getting higher by the second.</p><p>Brad knows when he’s gone too far, so he raises his hands in apology. “Whoa whoa whoa. Sorry. I just don’t want them to know.”</p><p>“Know what? That you’re capable of human affection? Why is that such a terrible secret?”</p><p>Brad makes a <em> hmph </em>sound and sits back down on the couch, crossing his arms.</p><p>“Jesus, Brad, if it’s such a big deal, just Uber in a couple hours later. We can make up different excuses.”</p><p>Brad nods a little bit and then stays silent, so David takes that as his cue to leave.</p><p>Honestly, he’d been wishing that Brad would’ve shot down that idea. Would’ve gotten over his stupid fucking issues. Was David really not worth it?</p><p>But then he feels bad, because there must be a reason Brad is like that, and David’s just invalidating all that, so then he feels a weird mix of anger at Brad and anger at himself and overall he just feels gross. So he ends up saying he’s sick and leaving work before Brad even gets there.</p><p>They don’t say anything to each other for a week beyond formalities and work-related necessities.</p><p> </p><p>David is trying not to call Brad. It’s like when his wife left him and he was desperate to talk to her but he forced himself not to contact her because he would seem weak and it would just make him sadder anyway. Why the hell does he compare his relationship to Brad with his relationship to his wife so much?</p><p>But, surprise to end all surprises, Brad texts him almost two weeks after the argument. A simple <em> hey</em>.</p><p>It’s the bare minimum. But it’s something.</p><p>David texts him back to tell him he’s ordering takeout, and that he can come over if he wants.</p><p>
  <em> On my way. </em>
</p><p>It’s raining outside, and Brad shows up at his doorstep soaked. Like a scene out of one of those stupid romcoms they watched that night they stayed up so late.</p><p>“Hey, David,” he says, and walks in like nothing ever happened, kicking off his shoes and settling down on the couch.</p><p>“Are we gonna talk about it-”</p><p>“Why don’t we just go back to normal? It’s easier this way.”</p><p>David shakes his head and sighs. <em> This </em> is the man the universe decided he has to love. He goes to sit next to Brad on the couch.</p><p>Wait. Backtrack. What the hell did the voice in his head just say?</p><p>Brad is saying something, but David’s not listening. It feels like his head is going miles per hour and he can’t pick up any of his thoughts.</p><p>“David? Hello?”</p><p>“Yeah. Uh. I’m just gonna. Go to the bathroom.”</p><p>He gets up and walks to the bathroom as quickly as possible, shutting the door behind him and sliding down to sit. The feeling of the cold tile calms him down a little bit, but he’s still panicking. Is he in love with Brad?</p><p>No. That’s impossible. But is it really? Didn’t he recreate an entire bar in his kitchen just to get a smile out of him? And let him pretend he hasn’t been a terrible friend just because he wants to keep seeing him? And all those stupid wife comparisons?</p><p>Okay, so maybe David’s been a little slow in putting this together. But he kinda wishes he’d never realized, because what is he going to do now? Sure, Brad’s gay, but there’s no way in hell he likes David. He barely tolerates him half the time.</p><p>He slowly walks out of the bathroom. Brad looks up from his phone and frowns. “You good?”</p><p>“Fine. Just-” <em> Fuck</em>. David is not sure how he’s gonna handle this. When did Brad get so pretty?</p><p>And thank God, the doorbell rings and saves him. He hurries to answer it, taking their food and thanking the delivery guy. He sets the bag on the counter and takes their food over to the couch. Brad reaches a hand out to take his without even looking, and it’s like nothing has changed. </p><p>But everything has changed. But David decides to take a page out of Brad’s book and force his emotions down, pretend they really are back to normal.</p><p>Just like Brad said. It’s easier this way.</p><p> </p><p>Brad has started coming over completely unannounced. He’ll let himself in and act like he owns the place, and David is ashamed that he doesn’t mind at all, despite claiming it’s annoying. Occasionally he’ll come downstairs in the morning and Brad will be there making breakfast. If anyone ever broke in, David would be screwed; he’d just think it was Brad and ignore the sounds.</p><p>Sometimes, when Brad is flipping pancakes on the stove, David likes to sit there at the counter drinking his coffee and pretend they’re married. It’s a silly fantasy; just a daydream to tide him over because he knows he’ll never get the real thing. But it’s nice to think about.</p><p> </p><p>David discovers that Brad has never been bowling. So he takes him out and doesn’t tell him where they’re going, and when they get there, Brad groans. “Bowling? Really?”</p><p>“It’s fun! I was in a bowling league back in college.”</p><p>“Of <em> course </em>you were. Dork,” he says, but it’s the voice of a man who has given up on pretending he doesn’t find the dorkiness endearing.</p><p>And then David absolutely crushes him, so who’s laughing now?</p><p> </p><p>They’re having a board meeting one day, but it’s some dumb issue that neither of them really care about, so they stand in the corner and make jokes to each other. Finally, Poppy says exasperatedly, “Are we ever gonna address Brad and David?”</p><p>Brad raises his eyebrows like <em> Who, me? </em>, and David’s mouth opens. “What do you mean address Brad and David?” he says, offended.</p><p>“You two are clearly together, and I’m getting sick of pretending like I don’t know that.”</p><p>“Oh, I thought we all just silently agreed to ignore it,” Jo says, typing at her computer.</p><p>“Yeah, it’s whatever,” says Ian.</p><p>David looks at Brad, then back at everyone else. “What? Brad and I- what? No. We’re friends.”</p><p>“You drive him home every day-”</p><p>“I saw you at the grocery store together last week and-”</p><p>“You stare at each other so much it’s annoying-”</p><p>“I said we’re just friends!” David snaps, turning to Brad for help.</p><p>Brad just smiles as though he’s enjoying this. “What he said.”</p><p>They walk back to David’s car that day, Poppy staring them down as they leave the building. David pretends not to see her. “So, uh, Brad-”</p><p>“Oh yeah, sorry about this morning. I should’ve backed you up more, I just like watching chaos. But I’m trying to be better about it.”</p><p>David’s taken aback, because that’s not exactly what he was going to bring up, but it’s actually really nice to hear. But he still kinda wishes Brad hadn’t said it, because for a split second he thought he had the balls to tell Brad that hey, maybe he actually did kinda sorta have those feelings for him.</p><p>But that second is gone, so he just says “Thanks”, and they walk back into the car and the rest of the day is normal.</p><p> </p><p>Jo’s comment about them staring at each other may have affected David, because he started to notice it way more. Obviously he already knew that he liked to look at Brad, but he began to watch for when Brad was looking at him.</p><p>And it’s a lot. Like way, <em> way </em>more than he would have expected. When they’re working in their office, they’ll glance at each other then quickly avert their eyes. Like they’re middle schoolers or something.</p><p>David decides to talk to Carol about it. Carol groans and tells him to get out of her office.</p><p> </p><p>They’re at David’s house watching TV, having a stupid argument over which character on the show is the best. Brad is sitting on the floor, head laid back against the couch, as David absentmindedly plays with his hair.</p><p>“Look! All I’m saying is that she’s clearly way better of a person and-”</p><p>“Oh my <em> god</em>,” Brad interrupts, “Poppy is right, we might as well be an old married couple.”</p><p>David freezes. “What?”</p><p>“You know. Bickering and all that. Plus you’re literally running your fingers through my hair right now.” David disentangles his fingers and moves them far away from Brad as fast as possible. “I didn’t say I didn’t like it, man. Why do you always get weird about stuff like this whenever anyone brings it up?”</p><p>“Oh, I don’t know, maybe because we’re not together? I don’t understand how you can just not care!”</p><p>“It’s not that big a deal to me. Is it really that bad for people to think we’re close?”</p><p>And okay, he did <em> not </em>just go there. “First of all, close and dating is a pretty big distinction, and aren’t you the one who tries to deny that we’re friends?”</p><p>“Yeah, cause friends is a bigger deal than a casual relationship! Friends means something real!”</p><p>“Well then maybe I’m more serious about relationships than you because they’re definitely something real to me!”</p><p>“Maybe they’d be real to me if we were in one!”</p><p>Dead silence. They stare at each other.</p><p>After a second, Brad tries to backtrack. “That’s not really what I meant I was just saying that-”</p><p>David leans down and kisses him, and Brad makes a surprised but definitely not disappointed noise.</p><p>He pulls away. “Is this okay, we should probably talk about this-”</p><p>“Kissing first. Talking later.”</p><p>And David can’t disagree with that.</p><p> </p><p>David wakes up in the morning with Brad’s arm draped over him. It’s cliche, but David really does think he looks like an angel when he sleeps.</p><p>He’s content to lay there until Brad finally wakes up. “Hi.”</p><p>“Hi.”</p><p>“So, it’s talking time now, I guess?”</p><p>Brad sits up. “Yeah, fine. I wanna...yeah.”</p><p>“Yeah?”</p><p>Brad rolls his eyes and mutters under his breath, “I wanna date you.”</p><p>“What was that?” David asks innocently.</p><p>“Oh, shut up, Brittlesbee,” he says, with no bite behind it. “Fine. I want to date you. I have for way too long.”</p><p>David grins. “Me too.”</p><p>Even Brad can’t stop himself from smiling, and he says, “Cool. Time for work, I guess.”</p><p>“Work...oh my <em> god</em>, everyone was right about us!”</p><p>“Oh shit. We can’t let them be right,” Brad says. “What do we do?”</p><p>David shrugs. “I think we can let them be right if it means we get to be together.”</p><p>Brad looks at him for a second and sighs. “Jesus Christ, David. What have you done to me? Fine. We can let them be right.”</p><p>So they walk into work holding hands and endure the smirks and <em> I-told-you-so</em>’s.</p><p>But David was right. It’s worth it.</p><p>Brad drops a kiss on his head before he leaves the office to go get them lunch, and David remembers barely eight months ago, when he’d thought <em> Brad Bakshi is not a nice person</em>.</p><p>He chuckles to himself. If only he’d known.</p>
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